Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Mandevillaxc3x97amabilis cultivar Monrey.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Mandevilla plant, botanically known as Mandevillaxc3x97amabilis, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Monreyxe2x80x99.
The new Mandevilla is a naturally-occurring branch mutation of the Mandevillaxc3x97amabilis cultivar Monite, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,123. The new Mandevilla was discovered and selected by the Inventor on Jun. 29, 2001 in a controlled environment in Azusa, Calif., within a population of plants of the cultivar Monite.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by tissue culture in a laboratory in Azusa, Calif., since August, 2001, has shown that the unique features of this new Mandevilla are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Monrey have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Monreyxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Monreyxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar of Mandevilla:
1. Vining growth habit.
2. Glossy, dark green leaves.
3. Large double pink-colored flowers with 20 petals per flower.
Plants of the new Mandevilla differ from plants of the parent, the cultivar Monite, primarily in flower form as plants of the cultivar Monite have single flowers with five petals.
Plants of the new Mandevilla can be compared to plants of the double flower Mandevilla cultivar Rita Marie Green, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,787. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Azusa, Calif., plants of the new cultivar differed from plants of the cultivar Rita Marie Green in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Mandevilla had about 20 petals per flower whereas plants of the cultivar Rita Marie Green had about 10 petals per flower.
2. Flower petals of plants of the new Mandevilla were not fused whereas flower petals of plants of the cultivar Rita Marie Green were fused.